Press Releases

Statement re Governor Dayton’s 2016 Bonding Proposal

Statement from Catholic Charities Regarding Governor Dayton’s 2016 Bonding Proposal Dayton proposes critical investments to complete the new Dorothy Day Center and expand affordable housing statewide Today, Governor Dayton released his 2016 Bonding Proposal, which included two critical State investments necessary to complete the new vision for the Dorothy Day Center and provide housing stability to all Minnesotans: 1. $12 million in General Obligation (GO) bonds to fund the Opportunity Center, the second and final phase of the project. 2. $90 million for affordable housing statewide; Catholic Charities will compete for Housing Infrastructure Bonds funds to support 171 units of permanent housing on the upper floors of the Opportunity Center. Tim Marx, President and CEO of Catholic Charities of St. Paul and Minneapolis: “Governor Dayton is proposing investments that are critical to complete the new vision for the Dorothy Day Center, and will expand access to affordable housing across Minnesota. An historic public-private partnership is advancing this ambitious new vision for the Dorothy Day Center. The Governor’s proposal to invest $12 million in this project will leverage millions of dollars in private support and advance the State’s goals to prevent and end homelessness. We are grateful for Governor Dayton’s leadership and support, and look forward to working hard over the next several months to continue building statewide, bipartisan support for these transformational investments.” Construction began on Higher Ground Saint Paul (Phase 1 of the project) in October 2015 and is expected to be complete by 2017. If public and private resources are secured, the Saint Paul Opportunity Center (Phase 2) is scheduled to break ground in 2017 and be fully operational by 2018. The total estimated cost of the two-phase project is $100 million and will be funded by an historic public-private partnership. A private capital campaign (chaired by Doug Baker of Ecolab, Mary Brainerd of HealthPartners and Andy Cecere of US Bank) is seeking to raise $40 million. At a groundbreaking event in October, campaign officials announced they had raised $23 million dollars in the first six months of the campaign. The campaign continues to make progress in securing private investments in this historic public/private partnership, likely the largest social service public private-partnership of its kind in State history. More information about the New Vision for the Dorothy Day Center is available at www.DorothyDayCampaign.org.